(1) Field of the Invention
The invention pertains generally to configuring computer networks. More specifically, the invention relates to automatically configuring computer networks at hospitality establishments such as hotels and resorts with reservation-specific settings.
(2) Description of the Related Art
Hospitality establishments such as hotels and resorts typically provide high speed Internet access (HSIA) to guests. Often a hospitality establishment desires to provide guests with HSIA using a computer network installed on the premises but does not wish to design or support the network. In this situation, the hospitality establishment may contract an external vendor to provide an HSIA solution.
An example of a vendor-provided HSIA solution is the One View Internet™ (OVI) system by Guest-tek™. To begin an HSIA session at a hotel employing the OVI system, a guest connects a user device to the hotel's computer network, either through a physical cable such as Ethernet or a wireless connection such as WiFi™, and opens a web browser to access a website on the Internet. Instead of allowing user devices immediate access to the Internet, the OVI system acts as a captive portal and requires the guest to first log in at a predetermined login portal. To this end, a firewall controlling access between the local area network (LAN) of the hotel and the Internet includes a default rule that causes unauthorized user devices to display the login portal in the web browser.
At the login portal the guest signs up for Internet access. When the guest is an attendee of an event being held at the hotel such as a meeting or conference, the guest enters a meeting passcode known only to attendees of the event in order to sign in. The OVI system checks the meeting passcode entered by the user to determine whether it matches that of an active event currently being held at the hospitality establishment. When the guest is an individual staying at the hotel, the guest enters their room number and other personal details, selects a desired bandwidth level and other options such as access duration etc., provides payment information, and performs other actions such as agreeing to terms and conditions. The OVI system only authorizes the user device to access the Internet after the guest has successfully completed the login process at the login portal.
To authorize a particular user device for HSIA after the login process has been completed, the OVI system adds a device-specific rule to the firewall that allows data to flow between the Internet and the unique media access control (MAC) address of the particular user device. In this way, only user devices from which guests of the hotel have properly logged in at the login portal are provided HSIA.
However, some user devices brought to hotels are unable to be logged in at a web-based login portal because the devices either do not include web browsing technology or do not permit the guest to access the login portal.
Examples of user devices that do not include web browsing technology include standalone teleconferencing web cam appliances, routers, Internet Protocol (IP) telephones, and other IP-enabled devices that lack a user interface capable of displaying the login portal or allowing the guest to enter the required login information. Because these devices are not capable of utilizing the web-based login portal, they cannot be logged in and do not gain Internet connectivity at the hotel.
Examples of user devices that do not permit the guest to access the login portal include locked-down corporate and military laptops and equipment that is configured to only connect with a designated destination such as a fixed server address accessed via a company or military virtual private network (VPN). Although these devices may include web browsers that are technically capable of displaying a login portal, due to security concerns, the device may be configured to actively ignore or block any attempts to cause the device to display the hotel's login portal. Typically the users of such devices have no administrator rights to modify or override these security settings. Therefore, these devices also cannot be logged in at the login portal and do not gain Internet connectivity at the hotel.
When a guest is unable to log in from a particular user device at the login portal such as in the above-described situations, the guest needs to contact support staff to request that the user device be manually cleared through the hotel's firewall in order to receive HSIA. Often the guest will not realize that manual intervention by support staff is required and may waste significant time attempting to troubleshoot the lack of Internet connectivity on their own. When the guest finally does call technical support for assistance, the guest may not be ready to provide support staff with the device's unique MAC address, which is required in order to manually add a device-specific exception allowing Internet access to the firewall. Helping the guest determine their device's unique MAC address delays call center staff in resolving the problem and moving onto a next support call.
Manual adjustment of firewall rules by support staff in order to give certain user devices Internet access both increases the support costs of the hospitality establishment's HSIA system and negatively impacts the guest experience. It would be desirable to be able to automatically activate the HSIA service for these devices.
iPass Incorporated offers the iPass Open Mobile Client™ that when installed on a user device automatically logs in the user device upon arrival at an iPass-enabled hotspot or Internet access provider such as a hotel. However, in order for the iPass Open Mobile Client to automatically log in a new user for Internet access, the user (or the user's employer in the case of a corporate device) must have previously signed up for an iPass account and purchased an amount of Internet access in advance. The user also must have previously installed and configured the iPass Open Mobile Client software on their device, which may not be possible for devices unsupported by iPass's client software or for which the user does not have sufficient access rights to install software (e.g., a locked-down corporate/military devices).
International Patent Publication No. WO2011005710 A2 discloses a system that allows zones and migration rules between the zones to be configured within a hotel. When a rule is configured to allow migration from a first zone to a second zone, guests already logged into the first zone may migrate to the second zone without being forced to re-log in. However, this system still requires the user to first log in and gain access to an initial zone upon arrival at the hotel. Only after the user has logged in from the initial zone will the system allow the user to migrate to certain other zones in the hotel without being required to re-log in.